Generally speaking, previously existing hydronic tangential and in-line air separators (AS) do not remove air from water to a low enough level to prevent corrosion in pipes and other system components. Micro bubbles remain in the water after free and entrained air has been removed by a standard AS. Micro air bubbles can account for up to 10% of the water by volume, depending on the water temperature and pressure. ASHRAE states that water with 1% or more air will cause pipes to corrode, and hydronic ASs do not remove particles in the water with specific gravity greater than one. The particles are generally referred to as dirt, and can clog hydronic system components like heat exchangers, boiler and chiller tubes, temperature control valves, and air handlers.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,419,842 (Castrigno et al.) is entitled “HYDRONIC SYSTEM AIR ELIMINATOR” and discloses what it describes as an air eliminator with defined housing. Other examples of prior art systems in the patent literature include U.S. Pat. No. 8,313,658 to Cnossen; U.S. Pat. No. 8,177,975 to Schipper; U.S. Pat. No. 8,025,716 to Prisco et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,740 to Schwartz et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,456,456 to Pompei; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,151,961 and 2,710,664 to Blackmore et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,568 to Mayer et al. Another example is provided by WIPO Publication WO1996035495 by Centazzo et al. All the disclosures of the foregoing patent related publications are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
While various implementations of separators have been developed, no design has emerged that generally encompasses all of the desired characteristics as hereafter presented in accordance with the subject technology.